Jaz's Jazz

Proof that Windows is based on Garbage

2007-10-16T12:30:00.000-06:00

"The best way to prepare [to be a programmer] is to write programs, and to study great programs that other people have written. In my case, I went to the garbage cans at the Computer Science Center and fished out listings of their operating system." - Bill Gates

All jokes aside, dumpster diving can yield some pretty interesting stuff. Also, the real point of the quote is one that bears careful thought.

Dear Middle-Aged Blonde in a Red Minivan

2007-10-04T13:47:00.000-06:00

I feel like all I complain about about is drivers here. At least recently. So here's the latest. I'm pretty used to being forced off the road onto the sidewalk or shoulder by drivers. It's not too bad, really, nor is it really dangerous. The worst that's gonna happen is a nasty case of road rash, maybe a broken bone or concussion.

However, being forced into the ONCOMING traffic lane is entirely different. So, here's what happened. I pulled up to a stop sign, and this red minivan pulls up beside me. I was forced into a kind of rolling stop, because otherwise I felt there was a high chance that she was going to cut me off, causing an accident. So anyway, I turn right, signal that I'm going to be turning left and move to the left hand side of the the turning lane. (Now, I'm not sure if that's what's legally required to happen, but I find that it's usually the safest thing to do.) Anyway, this same lady pulls up beside me, effectively passing me on the right, and signals that she's going to turn left. Now, she pulls up so close that a) I'm able to yell at her to watch out, and more importantly b) that there's less than a foot between the yellow line and the side of her van. Now, for anyone who hasn't biked recently, there's about 8-10 inches on either side of the main axis of the bike in width. Allowing for about 4 inches for me to not hit her, you can see that I'm now forced nearly completely into the oncoming lane, as she begins her turn, cutting me off with only a couple feet clearance in front of me.

So let's recap:
1) She forced me to do something illegal to avoid an accident.
2) She passed me on the right hand side.
3) She forced me into the oncoming lane.
4) She cut me off.

So anyway:
Dear Middle-Aged Blonde in a Minivan,
Wherever you were heading to in a rush was NOT worth my life, so please go to the nearest garbage can and toss in your license, because you are a menace on the road.

Sincerely,
The person you could have killed today.

Disrespecful Drivers

2006-12-14T15:16:00.000-06:00

I don't often get so angry that I start to shake.

I am right now.

We all know the biking on the road can be hazardous. Even when one follows all the laws, regulations and recommendations, it's still dangerous. More dangerous, I would argue, than a motorcycle, because people at least seem to respect motorcyclists. Now, I could rant for days about the close calls I've had by cars, trucks, busses, etc. driving by so closely that I could touch them. But that's just part of life as an urban cyclist. I'd like to point out that I do attempt to follow every traffic law, both for cyclists and for motor vehicles. On occaision, I have to make a decision to not do so. I do this when following the law would be actually more dangerous than not doing so.

What isn't part of the standard fare is what I just faced. Here's the situation. I'm biking down a side street of town (which I pick so I can avoid several heavy intersections, avoiding extra risk to both myself and other drivers). I see up ahead a small hatchback pulling an illegal U-turn in the middle of the street. So, I slow (as I would in a car) to let this person do his thing. However, he botches it, ending up half in a driveway, completely blocking my lane, and halfway block the other lane. Now, I realize would be a good time to point out that illegal U-turns shoud really be reserved for european cars that can actually pull it off without it becoming a 3-4 point turn. However, that's beside the point.

Anyway, I pull to a stop, giving the guy plenty of room, and wave him on. He just sits and stares at me. I wait, and then decide to do something I know is illegal, and pull onto the sidewalk so I can get around him (as opposed to cutting behind him to stay on the street, and chancing him backing over me). As I'm trying to get around him, I notice that he has succesfully finished his turn (drive, Forrest! Drive!), has reached over (as he's driving, and keeping pace with me so I can't get back on the road), unrolled his window (it's a old-style manual crank window) and is yelling at me. He's yelling at me to "Learn some fucking manners, you little punk!"

Lets revisit the situation. He broke the law, forcing me off the road. He didn't even break the law effectually. And now he's preventing me from rejoining the traffic flow, all the while yelling and cursing and insulting me. Repeatedly. I fail to see my mistake in all this, or how I've shown him anything but tolerance and courtesy. Fortunately, he turned opposite directions at the stop sign - frankly, though, I'm not surprised that he didn't chase me down.

Oh well. He probably just failed an exam. On the other hand, maybe I really am a punk and need to learn some manners. In which case, I invite you to paraphrase the end of my Atheism post: Go ahead and hate me. Girls like a punk, someone who has no manners, someone who's considered dangerous, on the edge. Sweet.

Milton Friedman Choir

2006-11-16T21:10:00.000-06:00

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6407847019713273360

Wow. That's all that needs said.

New Photos

2006-10-15T22:15:00.000-06:00

67160001.JPG
Originally uploaded by LeanderQ.

Alrighty, I finally developed another roll of photos. Here are the best. Give me comments and criticism!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/leanderq/

Atheist: Menace to Society?

2006-03-24T06:49:00.001-06:00

The Minnesota Daily has an interesting read this morning. Apparently, atheists are the most hated group in America. Ok, now that that's over, honestly, why would one hate atheists as a group?

We don't worship false gods - unless you call 'reason' a god - which is what a theist is really required to consider gods of other religions. We don't have crusades, jihads, anything like that - hell, has there ever even been some sort of atheist movement to stamp out a religion or two? We're interested in making our world better - probably more interested than any theist could be because this world is all we've got, there ain't nothin' comin' that's better.

And you know what, most of us would be easy converts: prove to us that there is a god, that some part of our world requires the existence of a deity, and we'll be right there with you.

Ok, now i'll get off my high horse, err, invisible pink unicorn.

On the other hand, one more comment: go ahead and hate us. Girls like a bad boy, someone who is counter-culture, someone who's considered dangerous, on the edge. Sweet.

Stump

2005-09-23T20:17:00.000-06:00

1-20.jpg
Originally uploaded by LeanderQ.

What can I say? I've taken up photography as a hobby. Not digital photography, but old-school manual SLR photography. I just got back my first set of prints today, so I'm pimpping out the good ones!

EuroSpeak

2005-06-29T09:00:00.000-06:00

The European commission has just announced an agreement whereby English will be the official language of the European Union rather than German, which was the other possibility.

As part of the negotiations, The British Government conceded that English spelling had some room for improvement and has accepted a 5-year phase-in plan that would become known as "Euro-English".

In the first year, "s" will replace the soft"c". Sertainly, this will make the sivil servants jump with joy. The hard "c" will be dropped in favour of "k". This should klear up konfusion and the keyboards kan have one fewer letters.

There will be growing publik enthusiasm in the sekond year when the troublesome "ph" will be replaked with a "f". This will make words like fotograf 20% shorter.

In the 3rd year, publik akseptanse of the new spelling kan be expekted to reach the stage where more komplikated changes are possible.

Governments will enkourage the removal of double letters which have always ben a deterent to akurate speling. Also, al wil agre that the horibl mes of the silent "e" in the languag is disgrasful and it should go away.

By the 4th yer people wil be reseptiv to steps such as replasing " th" with "z" and "w" with "v".

During ze fifz yer ze unesesary "o" kan be dropd from vords kontaing "ou" and after ziz fifz yer, vords vil hab sensibl riten styl.

Zer vil be no mor trubl or difikultis and evrivun vil find it ezi tu understand ech oza. Ze drem finali kum tru.

Und afterze fifz yer, ve vil al be speking German lik zey vunted in ze forst plas.

Anti-Love Song

2005-06-20T07:14:00.000-06:00

There are too many songs about love. Not enough about hate. :) So, here's me being part of the solution. For anyone who knows me, this isn't about anyone in particular.

Go away (use the Come What May melody)

Never knew I could feel like this,
Like I'll never see the sky again.
Want to vanish into the mist,
Every day I'm dyin' more and more.

Listen to my heart, can you hear it bleed?
Telling you that you've got less than I need.
Seasons have changed, spring to winter.
I can't love you. So go, I need some time.

Go away. Go away. I can't love you, so go: I need some time.

Suddenly the world's just not a perfect place.
Suddenly I weep at the thought of your face.
Suddenly my life just seems such waste.
I can't stay here with you.

And there's a mountain too high,
A river too wide.
Call out my name, I won't be there by your side.
Storm clouds are gatherin', and stars will collide,
I can't love you. So go, I need some time.

Go away. Go away. I can't love you, so go, or else I'll die.

Book Tag

2005-06-07T08:14:00.000-06:00

All right, so I just got "tagged" by Ms. Atomicus (see my friends at the right). I think the concept is... odd... but the content of the game is fun, so here goes.

1. Number of books that I own.

Probably around 300 that belong to me. I've honestly lost count, although I plan to make up a catalogue list in the near future.

2. Last Book Bought:

I recently acquired Man on Fire and Machiavelli's The Prince. I technically didn't pay for them. The last one I actually paid for was a textbook for class.

3. Last Book I Read:

Troubling a Star, by L'Engle.

Five Books that mean a lot to me:

Dune Series.
Ender Series.
Invitation to the Game, by Monica Hughes.
Lord of the Rings.
A Ring of Pure and Endless Light, by L'Engle.

Of course, these change, but that's the list right now.

Actions, not just words

2005-03-18T11:24:00.000-06:00

In reference to my previous post, below, and in the (possibly vain) hope that anyone else will follow my lead, I am posting here my letter to the President of the Federation of Students.

Mdm. President,
I am writing today to express my extreme disappointment in the resolution taken by the FEDS Council on Sunday. I believe strongly that, with your constituency so clearly divided, that support of either side of the debate is in poor taste. If FEDS Council shows partiality in this debate, how can I expect a fair, unbiased and representative decision on any other topic? Furthermore, I applaud Mr. Wheatley for his resignation and for his stand on proper governance.

I hope that FEDS Council will show more wisdom in the future.

Sincerely,

Leander Quiring
[email address omitted]

Biased FEDS

2005-03-18T11:03:00.000-06:00

The campus is divided in debate about the future of WPIRG. However, apparently the major representative body on campus is not, at least not any more. In a blatantly stupid move, this past Sunday, the Federation of Students passed a motion to support WPIRG on technical grounds, after they couldn't pass a motion to support WPIRG on ideological grounds.

Am I the only one that see this is stupid? Clearly not, because a math co-op councillor resigned on the spot. Even if he wasn't my friend, I would support him in this decision. Frankly, I would prefer him on the council to try to balance the leftist tendencies that are prominent and perpetual there. But, I applaud his decision to hold such a strong stance.

Whether or not you support WPIRG, I think we can all agree that on a divided topic, government should remain impartial until the issue is resolved. Please, write to them, and tell them this.

I'll be with Jesus in Heaven

2005-03-10T07:58:00.000-06:00

We're all so politically correct, we're all so tolerant, we're all so full of ourselves.

Yesterday on the news stands, I saw the headline "I'll be with Jesus in Heaven." I didn't read the article, but I understand that it was a quote from one of the four RCMP officers who recently died in a drug raid gone bad. Now I have no real problems with plastering his quote across the nation's newspapers, however I had to ask myself some questions.

If the officer had said "I'll be with Allah in Heaven" or "In my next life, I still want to be a police officer," would it have made an above-the-fold headline? Or would it just be "First fallen officer's funeral held?"

Looking a little deeper: yeah, we're "tolerant" of all sorts of religions in Canada. Despite the fact that they're non-christian. Listen to that: non-christian. By default, even that little phrase is showing our nation's Christo-centrism. Is this right? No. Were we truly tolerant, truly equal, we wouldn't have Islamic sensitivity classes at our universities and primary schools. We wouldn't have "Black History Month" or whatever it was called, nor would we have gay pride parades. Remember, the pride in being associated with a group is, in fact, discrimination against those who are not in it.

Someone, please convince me I'm wrong, that I'm seeing spectres.

Budget-less

2005-02-26T00:36:00.000-06:00

Well, due to unforseen circumstances, I didn't make it to question period today, so I can't impart inside knowledge of the budget. Sorry to anyone looking forward to it. However, I did get to experience ESLs and FSLs debating changes to the student loan program in their second language (yes, all three of them spoke in their non-native languages... odd and frustrating). I can see why our government is so efficient. :S

On the brighter side, I got to see a tourist from BC whine about the Queen to a tour guide at the Supreme Court. Nice building, though.

Actually, despite my sarcasm, the trip to Ottawa has been great! And, since dusk has fallen long ago in our nation's capital, it's time for this blogger to hit the sack. Bon soir & good night.

Obscure film of the {timeframe}

2005-02-23T09:39:00.000-06:00

I'd never heard of the The Canterville Ghost before it showed up on my doorstep in a care package. But I'm glad that I was able to share a light-hearted experience with Patrick Stewart and Neve Campbell. As a made-for-tv movie, it was a little coy, a little cliché, a little fast paced. But, the story definitely carried it through. Campbell's acting was acceptable, although she looked a little older than the 16 years of her character; Stewarts acting, of course, was amazing, although he'll always be Picard to me. Sorry Patrick - I have to imagine all of your non-Trek movies to be one of Picard's holodeck adventures so I don't suspend my disbelief.

Now, on to the story, which I said before, was great. It's based off of a short story by Oscar Wilde, so that probably explains it right there. Basically, an American family moves to Canterville Hall, a haunted castle in England, due to the father's research grant. It turns out to be haunted by the ghost of Sir Simon, Stewarts' character. The ghost tries to scare the family off, but the father is unflappable, since he's a genius physicist. Of course, he blames all the ghostly effects on his daughter Virginia, Campbell's character, and threatens to send her back State-side. After she falls in love with a local Lord. Oh no. So, basically, Simon offers to help her make her father believe, and Virginia offers to try to help him find peace.

And more stuff happens that you have to watch the film to find out about.

So there :P

Distributed Video Distribution

2005-02-22T14:42:00.000-06:00

Video piracy is rampant. This is obvious. The video industry is losing money (even if you don't think they deserve it). This is obvious. The video industry needs to adapt to meet these new challenges. This is obvious. What's not obvious, is how they should do this, and how profitable they will be doing it.

I'd like to recommend that the video industry cease attacking pirates with litigation and legislation, and start learning a lesson from them: the lesson of distributed distribution. BitTorrent, the latest in a string of peer-to-peer electronic distribution systems, is more than capable of handling the load. A quick glance at pirate websites will see that the popularity is there. Thousands of television programs and movies are being downloaded every day.

Am I the only one who sees a market here?

Why don't video distribution companies leverage this? There's a low fixed cost, especially since most video is digitized at some point any way. There's a low variable cost, since BitTorrent users pay for their own distribution channel: internet access. A video distribution company who had the foresight to release high-quality digital copies of their content could destroy piracy of their content and increase their revenue in one fell stroke. Destroying piracy, that's easy to see. But how would they increase revenue? Well, they're not getting any revenue from downloaded copies anyway. So, release their copies with advertisements embedded in them. Or even, if they want to be less obstructive, on the website where you download the original .torrent file.

Now, at this point, a couple questions arise. 1) Why wouldn't people just skip over the ads? 2) Why wouldn't pirates strip the ads? and 3) Why wouldn't this distribution network cannibalize traditional television? Now, hopefully, some good answers will arise.

1) Apathy and the state of computer video viewers answer this quite nicely. Most people are so attuned to ignoring ads on television, I believe they'd just ignore them on their computers too. In addition, video software commonly available is not always easy to skip frames easily, due to user interface design. Sure, some people will skip the ads - but some people channel surf during ads too. I really don't think it's a big issue.

2) To answer the second question, we have to ask ourselves: what do pirates gain from distributing illicit media. Notoriety, "street cred", personal glory? What glory is their to be had in stripping ads from free video files? Right now, there's a certain romance to being a pirate, because you're "sticking it to the man," because you're doing something dangerous. Where's the danger in stripping ads? People will only flock to the stripped copies if it becomes easier to obtain them than the legit copies. To combat this, simple: make it easy for people to download legitimate copies by providing constant seeds, no registration requirements, on-time-release, etc.

3) I have no good answer for this. Yes, it might cannibalize it. That's unavoidable. But, TV marketshare and mindshare is already being eroded by piracy. Instead, video companies should work to realize the benefits of metrics cheaper, and possibly accurate, than Nielsen ratings, cheaper distribution, reduced oligopolistic tendencies of distributors, etc.

What's stopping them other than a rigid mindset? As a consumer, I'd be delighted to have greater access to on-demand content, without being tied to new, expensive hardware and poor service providers. Heck, I may even start watching the ads :)

Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

2005-02-22T12:06:00.000-06:00

Grilled Cheese. Comfort food for some, staple for some, source of income for the lucky few. But, how does one acquire such an item? Yes, you could go to your local restaurant and order one. But, there's a certain satisfaction (and cost-saving) in making your own. So here's how:

Ingredients:
2 slices bread
4 half cm slices cheese
margarine

Butter both sides of both slices to taste. Brown one side of each on frying pan, George Foreman, or blow-torch. Place slices of cheese on browned side of one slice, cover with browned side of other slice. Brown remaining (outer) sides. Eat.

My tool of choice is the Foreman, and I use cheddar or marble cheese (medium or old, depending on how long I've had it).

Now, you too can be comforted, fed, or start a get-rich-quick scheme of your own. If you do get rich from this information, good for you, bad on society. Send me a percentage.

Pre-budget Post

2005-02-22T10:06:00.000-06:00

Tomorrow at approximately 4:00PM EST, the Canadian Department of Finance will be releasing the 2005 Budget. This should be fun for the following reasons:

I'm a fiscal conservative, while the Canadian Government is historically... shall we say... not?

I'm a business student, so I should be able to actually understand the numbers ;)

I'll be attending Question Period on Friday

Personally, I'm looking forward to taking a good hard look at it. Let me know if you want to hear my thoughts on it, as opposed to whatever sources you get your political news from usually.

Our Friend NASA

2005-02-22T09:49:00.000-06:00

In previous debates, the American space program has come up repeatedly as an example of bloated government, poor management practices, and basically a waste of taxpayer money. While some of these points may be true, NASA has indeed had an effect on our daily lives.

NASAsolutions is a site that details some of the day-to-day 2nd round benefits of the Space program. Yes, private space research is probably more cost effective. Yes, these products could've been developed cheaper privately. However, the fact is that space research was until recently, public only, and we should be glad we have these products, even if the American taxpayer overpaid for them.

Examples:

Home Insulation

Smoke Detectors

Cool laser heart surgery

Sports helmet padding

Satellites

If you sit down and actually flip through the site, I think it'll be much harder for you to argue that NASA has no effect on your life, and that it was a complete waste of money.

Obscure song of the {timeframe}

2005-02-21T17:07:00.000-06:00

Here's a song that should've, in my opinion, launched the career of a singer. "Tell Me" by Taylor. Made available on the by the Popnuvo label in early 2001, I found her lyrics touching and incisive. My favourite is the chorus:

"Never would have thought it so, never would have guessed that we had fallen out of love.
When we look the other way, when we turn our back to the truth, we're ok.
Still there's something on my mind, something I don't understand, so tell me once again."

It's available in two flavours: acoustic and pop. The former is my favourite, although the latter features an interesting rap section by one of Popnuvo's other artists from the time.

Since it was made available free as a demo song, if you want a copy, let me know. If you're from Popnuvo, or are Taylor yourself, and want to talk to me about this post, well, you know how to get ahold of me :)

Stereo

2005-02-21T16:33:00.000-06:00

It was recently suggested to me that an expensive stereo was stereotypical (ha ha) of post-secondary students. And yet, I have never seen this for myself. Granted, mine was probably expensive new, but I'm not sure what it's worth now (Yes, for all you would-be house thieves, it's so old that it actually has phono-in with a built-in preamp. Not exactly what's hot on the market.) Maybe I'm a snob, but I've never seen (outside of the DJ-ing crew) a stereo more complicated than a standard 5.1 computer speaker system, with the subwoofer being little more than a old-style mid-range)

Far be it from me to pine for the days of analog stereo equipment, for the days where vinyl was the medium of choice, and cassettes were still called reel-to-reel, but to me the above is a a bit of a sad comment on the state of the modern ear. Not only can one argue that music is becoming increasingly formulaic, but entry-level stereos are increasingly designed for form (as seen by flat speakers with little-to-no sound depth) and for cost. I can see why those two are important in a fashion- and cost-conscious society. But, is not quality also important? What about quantitative aspects such as distortion, frequency reproduction and fidelity? Or qualitative aspects such as sound colour and depth?

What are your thoughts? What do you listen on? Am I just being a snob?